1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bird feeders, and more particularly, to a guard adapted to fit a plurality of different types of bird feeders which is electrically powered in order to shock squirrels, larger birds or animals which often eat food intended for smaller birds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Squirrels can consume large quantities of food very rapidly and their aggressive nature intimidates the more passive birds and large aggressive birds discourage smaller birds from the appropriation of the available supply of food. Many individuals seek to attract birds in order to view birds and enjoy their habits. Squirrels and larger birds often interfere with this and, therefore, an electrified bird feeder of a portable nature for use on decks, patios or the like is needed.
There exists a large quantity of prior art with respect to the electrification of bird feeders, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,665 to Boaz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,857 to Boaz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,732 to Fry; U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,747 to Caldine; U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,951 to Collins; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,898 to Doubleday.
In all of the aforesaid prior art, the bird feeder is designed to be supported from a tree, or permanently in place support pole, thereby positioning the bird feeder off of the ground, but due to their cooperation with the support pole or the support mechanism extending downwardly from a tree, access by squirrels is still available and therefore the need developed in the prior art cited for an electrification means to prevent the squirrels from eating the feed intended for the birds.
Applicant's invention is designed for a portable guard having a harp device affixed thereon such that the bird feeder could depend downwardly from the harp device, a battery source or a power wire with a stepped down transformer would result in a positive or negative charge being directed to the harp and the opposite charge being directed towards the bird feeder, such that when dimensioned properly, a squirrel and not a bird would be of sufficient size to breach the gap and close the circuit thereby being temporarily subject to an electrical shock thereby preventing the squirrel from access to the bird feed.